Whibley Leads Yamaha 1-2 At Nationals
MAY 19, 2015: Thirteen years is a long time to wait, but it was
worth it.
Pahiatua's Paul Whibley has nothing left to prove on the
cross-country racing scene, having twice won the Grand National
Cross-country Championships (GNCC) in the United States, in 2009
and 2012, and the Yamaha rider has been a record six-time winner of
the Off-road Motorcycle and ATV (OMA) series in the US as well.
He last won a national cross-country titles in New Zealand over
a decade ago, winning back-to-back national titles at home in 2001
and 2002, just before he left to forge a successful international
racing career in Europe and the US.
Now settled back in New Zealand, he returned to the domestic
Kiwi race scene at the start of this season and immediately set
about trying to restore his position at the top of the sport
here.
After an initial setback, when he was beaten across the finish
line by defending national cross-country champion and fellow Yamaha
rider Adrian Smith at the first of four rounds in the 2015 series
back in February, he started a win streak that stretched until the
final round near Pahiatua on Sunday, earning him the title, a full
13 years after he'd last uplifted the Kiwi crown.
The 36-year-old, known affectionately by his fans as rivals as
"The Axeman", led from the start of Sunday's race at Waitawhiti
Station, about 40 kilometres east of Pahiatua.
Whibley and Mokau's Smith had traded wins throughout the season,
Whibley finishing 2-1-1 and Smith 1-2-2 at the previous rounds and
so Sunday's final three-hour battle was a winner-takes-all
affair.
When Smith suffered bike problems and was forced out of the race
early on Sunday, it was an anti-climax for fans and the pressure
was off for Whibley.
He was able to cruise to the win, although, despite appearances,
it actually wasn't an easy ride for him on Sunday.
"I lost where the track went about midway through lap one and
lost about 15 places," he explained.
He was quickly on the charge again, however, and has recovered
his position at the front before the end of the first 24-kilometre
lap.
"I had a crash on the second lap too, and I hit a dirt
bank. The crash knocked off one of my hand-guards and I lost my
goggles. I quickly picked myself up and worked hard to make a gap
over the chasing pack. With a clear track in front of me, the lack
of goggles wasn't too much of a problem."
The eventual final finish order for the three-hour senior race
was Whibley, followed several minutes behind by Hamilton's Andrew
Charleston and Rotorua's Scotty Birch.
Despite failing to finish the race, Smith had done enough at the
earlier rounds anyway to clinch the No.2 spot for the championship,
making it a Yamaha 1-2, and that was always going to be the case
because, even before the start of Sunday's race, neither of these
men could be unseated from the top rankings.
Both leading riders Whibley and Smith are supported by
Yamaha-Motor New Zealand, BikesportNZ.com and Workshop
Graphics.
Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com